A reliable Secure SD-WAN solution is essential for accelerating the accessibility of geographically dispersed branch offices to the use of essential business applications and services. They all need connectivity, security and unified management capabilities to provide the best possible user experience. Also important is the ability to treat each branch as a separate entity whenever the situation requires it.
Choosing the right SD-WAN solution is essential
However, the reality is that too many SD-WAN solutions have certain limitations in terms of the scope and efficiency of the capabilities or other services they provide. Recognizing this is especially important as service providers consider SD-WAN solutions that will be offered as a managed service when making their selection. However, an incorrectly chosen SD-WAN solution can have a negative impact on, for example, the cost of deployment, the complexity and time to market in the client environment, or the cost of management itself. Conversely, selecting the right SD-WAN solution enables a service provider to not only deliver agile connectivity at the edge, but also add additional revenue-generating services.
“These include LAN access (wired and wireless), IoT visibility and control, on-ramp input for multi-cloud and, most importantly, security. A single integrated VAS platform is one such SD-WAN solution that can provide all of this, enabling service providers to expand their service footprint and increase revenue while reducing current onboarding efforts,” says Ondřej Šťáhlavský, Sr. Regional Director CEE from Fortinet.
As a result, managing total cost of ownership (TCO) and maximizing profits comes down to controlling the capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenses (opex) of the SD-WAN. And that, of course, requires choosing the right solution for the job. Effective SD-WAN solution-based services that consolidate and integrate network and security functions not only reduce upfront investment, but also enable critical back-end overhead through deep and broad visibility, seamless management, ease of deployment at scale, information sharing, and automated cybersecurity responses.
Why SD-WAN rather than MPLS?
The benefits of an SD-WAN solution outweigh those of MPLS alone. This is because today’s traffic, which consists of advanced web applications and complex workflows, requires a more flexible and dynamic connectivity environment than static MPLS can traditionally provide. For more advantages over MPLS, read HERE.
“Solution Fortinet Secure SD-WAN is different because SD-WAN itself is implemented as an integrated feature in the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) appliance. Each connection automatically includes dynamic VPN capabilities to secure data in transit, combined with in-depth inspection of that traffic and with the help of a wide range of security tools including IPS, firewall, WAF, web filtering, anti-virus and anti-malware. These are already part of every FortiGate NGFW technology that supports SD-WAN,” specifies Ondřej Št’ááhlavský, Sr. Regional Director CEE from Fortinet.
